Tuesday, December 6, 2016

After Trump…?

Few were as surprised as we were to see Donald Trump win this last presidential election. We were sure it would go to Hillary Clinton as the most Establishment candidate the Establishment could've cooked up. (To be honest, for that very we were bracing ourselves for a repeat of the surge in bumper sticker sales we had faced immediately after each of Obama's elections. Fortunately we were spared from another frenzy of angry orders.)

But what now?

With Trump's talk of making America great again, downgrading overseas interventions as well as hostilities towards Russia, China, Syria and others, is he really going to usher in a true transformation of the American empire that makes an independent Texas less attractive, reasonable or politically sound?

The answer to that question very much remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, we would do well do take notice as he selects the staff for his upcoming administration. Already he has chosen some rather Establishment-oriented individuals for key positions, making him look remarkably more Establishment post-election than he did pre-election. It may well be part of a plan to invoke consensus and compromise and thus assuage concerns on all sides, so as to achieve his aims without entirely snubbing any major elements of the US political landscape.

Time will tell whether this could be the case — and whether such a program can work or not. It's far too early to say.

But though enthusiasm for a Texas secession seems to have been mitigated by Trump's victory (yet it has sparked talk of a California secession[!]), we will continue to advocate for an independent Texas as we always have, remaining unconvinced (so far) that continued membership in the Union is best for the Republic (and People) of Texas.

No doubt like many of our readers, we'll be observing Trump carefully in the coming months and years. He may give some Texans reason to cool their secessionist jets, but we're not about to abandon the cause of liberty and self-determination on the grounds that the Establishment has received an apparent "setback" in Trump's victory.